2 Corinthians
INTRODUCTION
2 CORINTHIANS
RALPH P. MARTIN
This letter was written shortly after 1 Corinthians, and it seems clear that it was written in Macedonia after Paul had left Ephesus. If we seek a more precise dating and a more certain knowledge of the relation between the two Corinthian letters, we will soon find that we have entered a most difficult field of New Testament chronology. A possible sequence is noted in the introduction to 1 Corinthians.
A good starting place is 1 Corinthians 16:1-2. There Paul implies that the collection at Corinth for the poor believers in Jerusalem had not yet been started. But in 2 Corinthians 8:10; 9:2, he writes that the Corinthians began the collection “last year.” The relationship between the dates of the two letters to the Corinthians depends on this phrase.
Paul had sent Titus to Corinth while he himself proceeded to Troas (2 Corinthians 7:6; 12:18). Titus had gone to enforce the apostle’s views and bring back word to Paul concerning the effect produced by a letter which Paul had written in view of the crisis in the Corinthian church (2 Corinthians 2:4f.; 7:8-13).
These were days of anxious strain (2 Corinthians 2:13; 7:5), and not finding Titus, Paul had left for Macedonia (2:13). There Titus met him and brought good news. He intimated that Paul’s “severe letter” (2:4) had done its work well, although Paul feared earlier that he might have written too severely (7:8). He rejoiced, however, that the crisis was over and the separation between him and the church brought about by one prominent man’s opposition to him at Corinth (2:5ff.) had passed. The occasion of 2 Corinthians is to be sought at this point.
Paul was greatly relieved, so this was not the time for dealing with Christian doctrine or church practice; the letter is more a pouring out of the man himself. However, important sections of this letter deal with doctrinal matters (eg 5:1-10, on the resurrection; 5:15-21, on reconciliation) and church practices (eg chapters 8–9 on Christian stewardship). We will best appreciate this letter if we read it as Paul’s spirited defense against his attackers.
2 Corinthians is therefore a very human (though inspired) document, and opens a window into the inner life of the apostle. “The letter is an artless and unconsciously autobiographical description of the ways in which Paul was accustomed to meet slander and calumny, physical danger and bodily suffering, disloyalty and ingratitude, from those for whom he had given of his best, and disillusionment and disappointment that invaded his spirit from time to time” (R.H. Strachan).